Super Bowl A.K.A. Marijuana Bowl

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Will recreational marijuana be allowed in the NFL? Will there be a day when marijuana brands will be spending over $4 million for a 30-minute Super Bowl ad slot? Perhaps these ideas won’t happen in the distant future, but the states leading the forefront of marijuana legalization are taking on each other for the Super Bowl XLVIII on February 2 at the MetLife Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey.

People started calling this year’s big game as the Marijuana Bowl or the Pot Bowl because of the fact the two states that legalized marijuana will be facing each other on Feb 2. A lot of football, and yes, marijuana fans rejoiced about this fact.

Colorado and Washington first to legalize pot

The internet is swamped with clichéd jokes about Colorado and Washington being the first states to legalize marijuana. Timing couldn’t be better with Seahawks and Broncos playing for the Super Bowl XLVIII.

The voters of Colorado and Washington approved to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in the elections of 2012. Colorado is the first state in the United States of America to open up a recreational marijuana retail store on January 1. However, people over 21 years old in Colorado did not line up to buy pot. In an unexpected twist of events, the legalization of pot has no impact on the majority of people from Colorado.

There won’t be pot during the big game though, because it will be played in neither Colorado nor Washington, the big game will be in New Jersey. Despite that fact, a lot of businesses tried to take advantage of the fact that teams that will go against each other during the big game are from the states that first legalized pot.

Pro-marijuana billboards on game day

Five billboards advocating the use of marijuana will be plastered on the freeway around the MetLife Stadium. Washington D.C. organization Marijuana Policy Project saw the Seahawks and Denver match for Super Bowl XLVIII as an opportunity to promote pot. MPP director of communications mason Tvert hopes that billboards would spark conversations about marijuana during the game day on Feb 2, specifically about the fact that drinking and football are more dangerous compared to marijuana.

MPP also took advantage of the NFL when it posted a billboard last September right outside of Denver’s Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium. Their main message in that billboard is that players should not be told to drink and that there is a safer choice legal in that state. Tvert said a lot of people will be shocked when they realize that more are getting into trouble for using a less harmful substance compared to alcohol.

The billboards show logos of a beer, football helmet and the universal icon of marijuana. Above the beer icon reads the word “Beer,” above the helmet reads “Football,” while above the marijuana icon reads “Safer.”

Another billboard shows a man holding a football with the statements saying marijuana is safer than alcohol and that the league should not punish people for making the safer choice. The other billboard has the same message, but this time a football player holds the ball.

There is also a billboard where a person lies down on the gutter apparently passing out from drinking too much and an injured football player with a statement that says marijuana is safer than alcohol and football.

The final billboard shows that there are over 749,000 marijuana arrests in the U.S. in 2012, while there were more than 751,000 attendees during the Super Bowl XXXVIII to XLVII.

Football players could be allowed to use pot

Because of all the Marijuana Bowl hullabaloo for the Super Bowl XLVIII, NFL players and leaders are constantly bombarded with questions regarding the role of marijuana in the football industry. According to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell he envisions a time when football players could be allowed to use marijuana to relieve pain. The law should accept that fact, he said.

During press releases, it couldn’t be helped that players and NFL leaders be asked about marijuana and its place in the industry.

The Seahawks had open minds answers to questions regarding pot. Seahawks fullback Michael Robinson thinks that anything that can improve their job without sacrificing their health is always good for NFL and its players. He said he is all for whatever can help the players, especially alternative forms of recovery.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll supports the idea of marijuana in the NFL. He said they have to explore ways to make their game better and take care of their players the best they can. The best connection between marijuana and the game is that pot is medicine and that the Commissioner should look into that. He said he can only speak in behalf of the coaches in the league and that they haven’t debated on that issue yet.

Marijuana debate

Tvert’s argument about promoting marijuana among football players instead of alcohol and the organization’s campaign that marijuana is safer than alcohol was strengthened with President Barrack Obama’s statement. The president’s statement published in The New Yorker magazine reads that marijuana is less harmful compared to pot.

Of course, there will always be anti-marijuana groups that would oppose this statement. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) heads are among the main people who opposes of the idea of legalizing marijuana. According to DEA heads marijuana is dangerous and that the result of legalizing it would be scary. Meanwhile, the most prominent anti-marijuana movement, Project SAM responded to Obama negatively.

Will there be marijuana for this year’s Super Bowl

There is a very big chance that there will be no marijuana during the big game on February 2. First of all, because the big game will be held in New Jersey, a state that has not yet legalized pot. Second, MetLife Stadium security during the big game on Feb 2 will be very tight. Security will make sure that that the area will be safe from terrorists, firearms, bad elements, illegal drugs, and yes, probably marijuana.